". . . the content of their character."

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character...."

For the first time in a generation, the outcome of the Harrisburg mayoral race is in doubt.

 

Such wasn’t the case two weeks ago. Linda Deliah Thompson was not only going to be the next mayor of Harrisburg, she was poised to shatter the office's race and gender barriers.

Then something happened. Troubling questions about the Democratic candidate first surfaced on local blogs and then in Harrisburg’s mainstream media. In the past several days a very different Linda Thompson has emerged. 

A few highlights:

• Thompson’s answers are by turns vague and contradictory.
• Her conduct under pressure is unbecoming. She is contemptuous of those who disagree with her and has shown tendencies to be petty and vindictive.
• Thompson’s grasp of ethics is tenuous as evidenced by the selection of the Harrisburg Authority chairman as her campaign manger.
• Her nonprofit agency, LOVESHIP, promotes home ownership, yet Linda rents.
• She has taken a zero interest $5,000 loan from LOVESHIP, yet tells the media the nonprofit is financially struggling.
• LOVESHIP’s tax returns for 2008 are still not filed.
• Thompson provides LOVESHIP clients with personal financial management counseling yet she’s had an outstanding student loan for 24 years and was sued by a credit card company this year for failure to pay a balance of $1,483.71.
• Her employment history is murky and she’s collected unemployment compensation under questionable circumstances.
• Linda’s $20,000 salary on City Council and $10,000 in rent LOVESHIP pays her for office space in the house her parents gave her allows her to drive a Mercedes-Benz and rent a luxury apartment.
• She claims “transparency” yet bars a reporter from her press conference and declares questions about her nonprofit to be “off-limits.”
• An alleged equipment malfunction while pumping gas has left Thompson too emotionally fragile to refuel her Benz and is the subject of lawsuits totaling $150,000.
• Thompson is unapologetic in the fervor of her faith and her belief she has been anointed by God to preside over the City of Harrisburg. The separation of church and state is not a doctrine to which she subscribes.
• Linda will play the race card without hesitation and frequently.

Now that Linda’s masks are falling like autumn leaves, many in the African American community are horrified at the prospect that Linda Thompson may well become the first black and the first female mayor of Pennsylvanian’s capital city.

Thompson is not worthy of that honor. If elected, she will be a source of entertainment to the region and a shame for us. She will be a particular source of embarrassment to Harrisburg’s African American middle class who can turn this election in favor of Mindlin.

Thompson’s negatives are legion. She would be unqualified were she a white male.  Let's face it . . . she wouldn't even still be in the race. 

If she takes the election, it will because ballots were cast based on race or party rather than merit or character.

Dr. King’s dream works both ways.